Understanding Muslim Congregational Life

Learning Goals/ Outcomes/ Objectives of the course:

This course is designed to be practical. Its approach is methodological and thematic. Its main goal is to enable students to analyze varied aspects of Muslim congregational life. A major focus will be an introduction to methodologies of congregational studies, such as participant observation, interviews, and situational analysis of the congregations' place in larger Muslim and non-Muslim networks. The thematic aspect of the course will introduce students to key themes in American Muslim history and contemporary life, such as gender, ethnicity, generational change, participation in public life, local and international connections, and religious discourses. In addition, each student will be required to carry out a study of one Mosque by the end of the course. Such a study will be a practical exercise in how well students are able to employ methodological approaches in conjunction with comparative analyses derived from the thematic overviews of American Muslim history, sociology, and ethnography.

Required Texts:  ALL reading must be done prior to the actual weeklong course.

Studying Congregations: A New Handbook., eds. Ammerman, Carroll, Dudley, and McKinney (1998).

OPTIONAL READING Handbook for Congregational Studieseds. Carroll, Dudley, McKinney online at http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/bookshelf/out_of_print_congstudhndbk.html

Without Forgetting the Imam: Lebanese Shi'ism in an American Community. Walbridge, L. S. (1997). 
Articles:  Listed below, will be posted on Sonisweb.
Course Requirements:

• All students (audit and credit) are expected to have active participation in class, in our activities and our fieldwork.  We will participate in diverse religious events and examine materials from one local Mosque.  We will study this Mosque in order to learn and refine the observational and interpretative skills necessary in understanding a congregation.  Additionally, students will report on reflections, observational notes, and impressions of the classroom field activities and religious events.
• One group/individual presentation will be required of all students, whether taking the course for audit or credit, based on our fieldwork and observational/ interview tasks chosen during the week of the course.
• Each student will study a Mosque as the site of their fieldwork for their final paper. We encourage study of a single Mosque but we might consider proposals for multi-congregational studies of an aspect of Muslim congregational life (such as education, gender, generational changes, discourse analysis, etc.) especially for the final paper.
• Based on this fieldwork, each student will submit a final paper of 15-20 pages based on the research with this local congregation.  This paper is tentatively due by March 30th 2012. Further information about this paper will be distributed later in the course.
• **(IF you are taking this for credit) Students will also choose one additional book for purchase from a list of recent case studies of diverse congregations to read prior to the class sessions; **IF you are taking this for credit you will be responsible for a 3-4 page book report on the book chosen, from the list below, and a 10 minute in-class presentation.  See the book report requirements.
• R. S. Warner, New Wine in Old Wineskins, a small-town Presbyterian church in California, traditionally middle-of-the-road, but became transformed by an influx of evangelicals.
• Wendy Cadge, Heartwood: The First Generation of Theravada Buddhism in America.
• Samuel C. Heilman, Synagogue Life: A Study in Symbolic Interaction 
• Melvin D. Williams, Community in a Black Pentecostal Church: An Anthropological Study.
• Richard T. Antoun, Muslim Preacher in the Modern World: A Jordanian Case Study in Comparative Perspective. 
• Garbi Schmidt,  Islam in Urban America: Sunni Muslims in Chicago.
• S. Freedman, Upon This Rock, a very large, growing, big-city black Baptist church that tackles the many difficulties of its urban neighborhood.
• N. T. Ammerman, Bible Believers, a nearby growing fundamentalist church and school, written in the 1980’s.
• S. Thumma, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: A story of one megachurch.  - Social history of the birth, development and near collapse of an Atlanta megachurch. Electronic copy of dissertation can be found at http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/megachurch/dissertation.html. 
• G. Marti, A Mosaic of Believers, a study of the progressive multi-racial megachurch named Mosaic in Los Angeles

Plagiarism: All assignments submitted must be the student’s own original work. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden. As described in Hartford Seminary’s “General Guidelines for a Research Paper” and the Student Handbook, plagiarism occurs when students “submit another person’s work, lift paragraphs, sentences, or even a choice phrase from another writer, or make use of another person’s ideas (even if the student puts these ideas into his/her own words) without acknowledging the source.”
Additionally, the purchase of a paper from an online source is considered plagiarism. A related kind of dishonesty is to resubmit a paper which was done for a different course, even if it is the student’s own work. We might use software to detect plagiarism and speak to other faculty about papers done for their courses.  Plagiarism in any form is not permitted at Hartford Seminary. It will be reported to the Dean’s Office and may result in disciplinary action.” If a paper is found to contain plagiarism, the minimum penalty will be failing that assignment, with no opportunity to rewrite. If you are unsure of the line between plagiarism and legitimate use of sources (e.g., quotation, paraphrase), consult one of the Seminary’s Writing Consultants.
Assessment:

1. Class participation (attendance and informed participation in discussions): 25 %
2. In-class research exercises 20%
3. Class presentations: 15 %
4. Final paper: 40%

Tentative course outline
Day one - The Mosque as a Congregation & Methods of Study: Ecological Context

• Chapter 2 in Studying Congregations
• OPTIONAL Chapter 3 in Handbook http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/bookshelf/Congstudieshandbook/congstdhdbk-ch3.pdf

9:00 - 12:00 Lecture and exercises - analysis of different aspects of the context
12:00 -2:00 lunch in field, driving and walking tour
2:30 - 5:30

• Walbridge - Introduction
• Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Chapters 7 and 8, pp. 272 - 378 (Available on SONISWEB)
• OPTIONAL Ihsan Bagby, “The Mosque in the American Public Square,” in Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square, ed. Zahid Bukhari et al (New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing, 2003), pp. 323-346. (Available on SONISWEB)

Day two - Methods of Study: Culture and Identity

• Chapter 3 in Studying Congregations
• OPTIONAL Chapter 2 in Handbook http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/bookshelf/Congstudieshandbook/congstdhdbk-ch2.pdf

9:00 -11:30 - Lecture and exercises
11:30 - 1:00 - lunch
1:00 - 5:00 Lecture and  small group research/discussion

• Robert Danin, “Island in a Sea of Ignorance: Dimensions of the Prison Mosque,” in Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe, ed. Barbara Daly Metcalf (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996), pp. 131-146.
• Walbridge - Chapters 1 and 3, pp. 27-40 and 129-200
• OPTIONAL Elta Smith and Courtney Bender, “The Creation of Urban Niche Religion: South Asian Taxi Drivers in New York City,” in Asian American Religions: The Making and Remaking of Borders and Boundaries, ed. Tony Carnes et al (New York: New York University Press, 2004) (Available on SONISWEB)

Observe evening prayers 

Day three - Methods of Study: Processes & Dynamics
Observe early morning prayer
      9:00 -11:00 - lecture on methods

• Chapter 5 in Studying Congregations
• OPTIONAL Chapter 5 in Handbook 
  http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/bookshelf/Congstudieshandbook/congstdhdbk-ch5.pdf
• Melvin Williams, “Church Activities” in Community in a Black Pentecostal Church, pp.82-101 (Available on SONISWEB)

11:00 -11:30 Book reading presentations -
11:30 - 2:30 Prayer/ observations
2:30 - 3:30 - lunch with Imam?
3:30 - 5:00 process what they saw. 
Day four - Methods of Study: Resources & Networks
9:00 -11:00 Lectures

• Garbi Schmidt, “The House of God and Beyond,” in Garbi Schmidt, Islam in Urban America: Sunni Muslims in Chicago (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004), pp. 136-188.  (Available on SONISWEB)

11:00 - 12:00 student presentations
12:00 - 1:00 lunch
1:00 - 2:30

• Chapter 5 in Studying Congregations
• OPTIONAL Chapter 5 in Handbook 
  http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/bookshelf/Congstudieshandbook/congstdhdbk-ch5.pdf

2:30- 5:00  In the afternoon - Set up some presentations by area network leaders, Imams, etc.  
Evening --- Interviews with persons from the mosque  Mosque timeline 
6- 8:30 - We will arrange with the Mosque to gather about 8-16 folks to participate in a potluck with us providing part of the dinner.
To be interviewed and informal sharing time with members to learn more about their Mosque and the local Muslim community and perhaps a historical timeline.

Day five - Methods of Study: Leadership

 9:00 - 11:30 - Observe youth classes
11:30-1:00 - Lunch
1 - 3:30 - lecture and student presentations

• Richard T. Antoun, Muslim Preacher in the Modern World: a Jordanian Case Study in Comparative Perspective (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989), Chapters 2 and 3 (Available on SONISWEB)
• Andrea Elliot, “Tending to Muslim Hearts and Islam's Future,” “To Lead the Faithful in a Faith Under Fire,” and “A Muslim Leader in Brooklyn, Reconciling 2 Worlds,”  New York Times (copies available on SONISWEB; for originals, see: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/series/muslimsinamerica/index.html?scp=2&sq=andrea%20elliott&st=cse)
• Cyber-Islam
• Walbridge - Conclusion

4:00 - 6:00 Reflection on leadership, Internet, future of Mosque in America

What did we learn, how do we make sense of what we saw, how do we use it, convey it?